INTO back call for strike action in face of LRC talks

A ballot of primary school teachers has backed a call for industrial action - up to, and including, strike action.

General Secretary of the Irish National Teachers Organisation, Sheila Nunan, says the mandate for action will be used if government unilaterally cuts teacher's pay.

Earlier today, both the INTO and the Teachers Union of Ireland agreed to enter public sector pay talks with the Labour Relations Commission.

Both unions say they will emphasise the impact cuts have had on teachers and their families and will call for the pay scales of newly qualified teachers and lecturers to be restored.